How to Celebrate Earth Day 2016

Earth-Day

This Friday, April 22nd, marks the 46th observance of Earth Day. While it is vitally important to be mindful of our environment year-round, we love how Earth Day gives us extra reason to redirect our usually busy focus to Mother Earth and how we can better treat her.

While many communities and organizations may be putting on some sort of festivities or ceremonies in honor of Earth Day, most do not. So if you’re like us and want to celebrate our planet for all it deserves, here’s a list of ways to honor our planet this Friday (and every day!).

  • Start composting.
  • Plant a tree or a vegetable garden.
  • Commute by foot or bike when you can (ie. if you live in a metro area). If not, carpool or take advantage of public transportation.
  • Support your local farms.
  • Shut off the lights when you leave the room.
  • Limit your paper trail.
  • Open the windows and turn off the air conditioning.
  • Collect rainwater to water your plants.
  • Take shorter showers.
  • Turn off the television and go take a walk.
  • Update your lightbulbs.
  • Make a recycling plan.
  • Use Earth-friendly cleaning products or make your own.
  • Invest in a reusable coffee mug.
  • Fix those leaky faucets.
  • Give up bottled water.
  • Organize a community clean-up or plant a community garden.

We challenge you to try to continue the Earth Day celebrations past this Friday! Transition one or two or more of these practices into everyday life. Go green in whatever little way you can. It can make a big difference, not to mention save you a couple of dollars, too!

Spring Cleaning Your Workspace

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If you’re like us, this time of year is one of our favorites. The warmer days, the blooming flowers, the longer hours of daylight – for these reasons and many more, the season of spring offers a healthy overdose of rejuvenation and endless potential. Everything is coming alive again, making it the perfect time to wipe the slate clean and start fresh in many areas of life.

This year, we’re taking spring cleaning to the office. You know that feeling of accomplishment that floods over after cleaning out the junk drawer at home or dropping off a couple bags of clothes to Goodwill? Well, we believe that feeling of achievement can be felt in other areas of life as well.

Since most of us spend the majority of our week at work, whether in our home office or in a downtown city building, this area of our lives should not be neglected when it comes to spring cleaning.

Here’s a step-by-step process to refreshing your workspace.

1. Clean your physical workspace. Does your desk look like a tornado hit? Do you have piles of paperwork you’ve pushed off to the side in the hopes that one day you’ll find the time to look through it all? Well, that day has come.

First, go through everything and toss (recycle if you can!) what you do not need. You’ll be amazed at how much space this will free up. Then, sort the remaining into separate piles, and file it away in the appropriate place. If are a sticky note happy person (no judgments here; we are too!), it’s time to take them down. Open a Word doc on your computer and put each note into one list, save it to your desktop, and then say goodbye to your beloved sticky notes.

Once your desk is cleared of the clutter, it’s time to pull out the dust rag and wipe everything down – the surface of your desk, computer, printer, stapler, you name it. Sitting down to a fresh, clean and de-cluttered workspace will feel GREAT.

2. Go through your email. Though our email mailbox is not a physical space, a cluttered inbox can weigh on our minds. Create a few folders in your email account that cover the main categories of most of your email correspondences (ie. family, medical, work, etc.). Next, go through the messages that cannot be trashed and file them under the appropriate category. The best way to keep on top of this is to organize your inbox daily. Whenever you check your email, trash what you don’t need and file what you do – all it takes is one click of the mouse and you’ll never fall behind.

3. Run a scan on your computer. It’s probably been months, maybe even longer, since you’ve cleaned your computer. Not only could this be slowing down your work flow, but it can leave you feeling overwhelmed with the amount of unorganized files that you have. Which leads us to step 4…

4. Go through your files. This may seem like a large task, but it’ll be worth it in the end, and, if done properly, you’ll be finished in no time. Start by deleting the items you no longer need. Again, you’ll be surprised at how much this can be! Begin by opening your folders – Documents, Pictures, and Downloads are the most used ones. For PC users, press and hold Control and click away. (For Mac users, press and hold Command). Once you’ve selected all you want to delete, simply right click and say goodbye.

Next, organize your files. If you have random items in your Downloads folder that can be categorized in your Documents or Pictures, go for it! Again, though this isn’t a physical space, but if left messy and unorganized, it can become frustrating when searching for a particular file.

That’s it! Four easy steps to freshening up your workspace, no matter where you work from. Now grab those dust rags, block off an hour, and get down and dirty.

Why Partnering With a Search Firm Could Land You Your Dream Job

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Did you wake up this morning with work on your mind? Did the idea of it seem daunting and exhausting? Did it ultimately make you want to pull the blankets back over your head and smack your alarm clock quiet? We know those feelings, and while we all have these days, as it’s perfectly natural to go through ebbs and flows, these dreaded thoughts shouldn’t be every day.

You think to yourself that maybe it’s time for a change, but where do you begin? You haven’t been actively seeking a job in many years, and everything that you thought you knew about the job market has changed. That’s where a search firm comes in. By building a relationship with an expert search firm, you can save time, money and loads of stress.

To say we’ve seen our fair share of hesitant candidates would be an understatement. As recruiters, we are rejected often. But the reason we continue to work hard at our jobs day in and day out is because we know we can help. When it comes to recruiting, there is no better feeling that helping a candidate take that next big step in their career.

So, if you feel like you’re ready to take that leap, don’t be afraid to turn to a search firm. Here’s why.

We’re on top of industry happenings.

As a part of our job, we must keep up with industry news. Every morning, we comb through the best and brightest websites in our industry so that we are aware of every newsworthy happening that is taking place in the environmental world.

We know where your market value is.

Gone are the late night hours of filling out applications and writing cover letters for positions which are ultimately not the right fit for you. At RSG, we have a combined recruiting experience of over 50 years. That’s a lot! One look at your resume and we know what jobs match well with your experience and skill set. The same goes for our clients, the companies that hire us to fill open positions. We have been working with many of our clients for years now. We understand their company culture and would only ever present them with a candidate that would be a perfect fit. This saves time for both parties.

Networking is what we do.

Staying connected is a huge part of our job. Day in and day out, it’s what we do. We spend our day speaking with environmental professionals across the country from every level of our industry. We do this so you don’t have to. Because of our networking connections, we can find the best jobs for you.

We can offer career guidance.

If you are a follower of our website and social media accounts (which you should be!), you know that we are constantly offering new career advice. We share articles, tips and tricks from the brightest minds in the industry. And we write our own, like this one! Resumes are second nature to us, and we’ve coached more interviewees than we can count. So when it comes to professional development, we are a wealth of knowledge just waiting to be tapped into.

We will be your Jerry Maguire.

Another words, we will be your sports agent and your cheerleader, in your corner from day one. Not only does our success depend on your success, but the satisfaction we get from helping you find your dream job is bar none. We will rally behind you and won’t leave until you are where you want to be.